Sam Goundar
Speaker and ParticipantIT Manager/Advisor
Office of the Attorney General of Fiji
Report on the 2007 PacINET Conference in Honiara – Solomon Islands
Introduction
The Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society Conference was held in the City of Honiara
in the Solomon Islands from the 14th to the 24th of August 2007. I responded to the email that
was circulated calling for papers to be presented at the Conference. After submitting the
requirements for the paper presentation at the Conference, I was accepted to speak under the
e-Governance main stream at the Conference. I also found out about travel funding from PIP
[Pacific Internet Partners] for attending the Conference. Even though, I was late, I still applied
and persisted with my application and in the end was rewarded with NZ$1,000 towards
attending the Conference. I am grateful to Don Hollander and PIP [Pacific Internet Partners]
for providing the funds that helped me to attend my first ever PacINET Conference.
What I did – at the PacINET!!
I arrived in Honiara on the evening of Tuesday the 14th August and started attending the
Conference from Wednesday the 15th August.
Wednesday 15th August 2007:
I attended the mainstream talks on IPV6 before the sessions adjourned for lunch [attended
lunch hosted by Don Hollander at Honiara Hotel]. After lunch, I attended the Stream II
session on ICT in Education and Inquisitive Learning as I am involved in teaching a
Computing Science course at The University of the South Pacific using the Moodle e-learning
software. The afternoon ended up with presentations on the IPv6 and the Pacific Islands and a
Panel Discussion on The Way Forward: An IPv6 Roadmap for the Pacific Islands.
Thursday 16th August 2007:
In the morning, I attended Session 1: Educational ICT in the Pacific and then Session 2:
Cyber Schooling in Theory & Practice after Morning Tea. After lunch, I attended Session 3:
Schoolnets in the Pacific and Session 4: The One Laptop Per Child Oceania Initiative. Late in
the afternoon, we had a session with Don Hollander on Establishing Computer
Clubs/Societies. And the evening ended with a Conference Cocktail at the Solomon’s Kitano
Medana Hotel and the most severe earth quake that I experienced in my life time.
Friday 17th August 2007:
The morning started off with PacINET 2007 Keynote Address from Dr Jimmie Rodgers. After
morning tea, there was a PacINET Forum on ICT: A Catalyst for Development. After lunch,
attended sessions on The Internet Governance Forum, ICANN, APNIC, APTLD, and
APRALO. In the afternoon, I attended the following sessions: New Policy and Technology
Regimes and a Panel Discussion on Internet Issues. The evening concluded with another
cocktail at FFA Sports and Social Club, but no earthquake this time.
Saturday 18th August 2007:
On Saturday, I attended the following sessions: e-Health, e-Pacific, Building Connected
Communities, Networks & Systems. After Lunch, I attended the STREAM II: Workshops:
Security, Internet Use Abuse & Management, Access & Connectivity. The Internet use, abuse
and management session by Al Blake was quite beneficial as I also face the same Internet
abuse and management problems as an IT Manager at my workplace. I have started
implementing some of the recommendations that I got from the workshop.
What I Shared - at the PacINET!!
At the Monday 20th August’s morning session on e-Governance, I presented a paper on: “The
Impact of IT on Revising the Laws of Fiji and the Impact of Internet on Disseminating the
Laws of Fiji”. I shared my experiences as an IT Manager/Project Manager of the Fiji’s Law
Revision Project. I presented on the best practices that we have adopted using IT to revise the
Laws of Fiji and using Internet to disseminate the Laws of Fiji. And how what we are doing
and what we have done will benefit the ordinary citizens and ICT users of Fiji and Fijians.
During my informal discussions with colleagues and conference delegates from the region, I
emphasised on the ease with which we have used IT to revise the Laws of Fiji and that too in a
record breaking time frame. I am sure in time to come, we will be approached by those
jurisdictions in the South Pacific that are waiting to revise their Laws for our model that I am
documenting as part of my PhD Thesis. USP’s School of Law in Vanuatu has already
approached us for assistance and collaboration in the Law Revision Project.
I also visited the Solomon Islands USP Centre and had informal discussions with the Centre
Director and the ICT Manager on the access, use, and benefits of USPNet to the staff and
students of the Solomon Islands Centre. USPNet is an independent satellite network system in
the region linking all regional centres and campuses that I was involved in when based at
USP’s Fiji Centre. The USPNet allows centres and campuses in the region to have access to
Internet and emailing capabilities independent of their telecom and ISP providers.
What I Learnt - at the PacINET!!
IPV6 sessions and tutorials were quite interesting and a good learning experience as I had not
realised the limitations and the consequences ahead with the continuous usage of IPV4. The
informal discussions with the conference delegates and the problems they faced and how they
overcame the problems were lessons which will remain with me for some time. The Solomons
ICT experience with its geographic makeup is similar to ours in Fiji and the PFNet
implementation and solutions are lessons learnt and retained and so is SchoolNets.
Another exciting initiative that I came across and physically saw at the conference was the
OLPC [One Laptop Per Child] initiative. It would be some time before the OLPC’s arrive in
Fiji, but I have at least seen one in action, and I feel this initiative would definitely raise the
awareness of ICT in our country once each child in Fiji starts to carry one around if that’s
what my understanding is – how realistic – I don’t know!! But at least having the knowledge of
OLPC and its arrival will enable us to inform the stakeholders to prepare for its arrival
I was also happy to learn about the abundance of free source software and resources available
after attending the FOSS sessions. I hadn’t realised that the FOSS community has now made
available basically any software that is available commercially as well. Now, I know the
website URL’s and other resource websites to download software for free. The Internet use,
abuse and management session by Al Blake was quite beneficial as I also face the same
Internet abuse and management problems as an IT Manager at my workplace.
What I am going to do and How I am going to Share!!
I have already implemented certain measures in regards to the management and abuse of the
Internet at my workplace. I have also downloaded a few freeware software to help with my
routine work and this has saved considerable money for my organisation as I would have
ended up paying for these. Of great value is the free Internet filter that I have downloaded and
implemented, as so far this implementation was on hold because of financial constraints.
I am going to revive and take over as President of the South Pacific Computer Society, a local
IT Professional’s organisation that has somewhat become defunct after last years coup in Fiji.
Additionally, I am going to propose to open up membership of the organisation to “geeks”, so
that they become aware of and participate in our activities as well. I will probably need some
funding to get people together for a couple of drinks to set this revival into motion and I hope
PIP [Don Hollander] or InternetNZ would assist me on this endeavour.
I have already shared my experiences with my colleagues at work, my members in the
professional organisation and my computing science students at The University of the South
Pacific. A lot of my friends and families upon my return from the Conference enquired as to
what transpired at the Conference and what Solomon Island’s is like? I have upon my return at
least shared my conference experiences with more that 50 professionals and more than 50
students. Many of the IT professionals are keen to attend the next conference and my sharing
will have a snowball effect that will see an increase in membership of the PICISOC Chapter.
Finally, I would like to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation to Don Hollander of PIP
for the sponsorship, and the hosts of the Honiara Conference for a wonderful experience, and
the executives of PICISOC for allowing me to present at the PacINET 2007 Conference.
Hope to see you all next year.
Vinaka …
Sam Goundar
IT Manager/Advisor
Office of the Attorney General of Fiji
Phone : [679] 330 9866 Fax: [679] 330 2404
Mobile: [679] 995 4144 Email: goundars@connect.com.fj